The Separation
by Llama Queen Katie
Summary: A year after The Key, Ethan decides to run away from Angel Falls. Nobody knows for sure where he is, so the Tribunal send out the remaining 7 Named to find him. But do they really want to know where he is? Book one in the Continuation trilogy.
1. Prologue

**Okay, this is my first attempt at writing a GoT fic, but the whole thing is already written on paper – as well as the sequel – so I can tell you that the first chapter is just a little crappy…but that's only because I had to get into the flow of the story. When I first wrote this, it didn't have a prologue but I'm adding one now, so this is slightly better written than the first chapter. Forgive me if Arkarian is slightly OOC in this fic, but I swear that he'll be somewhat back to normal in a few chapters. Now, enough chatter, here's the prologue.**

**The Separation**

**Prologue**

A dark haired girl walks aimlessly among the dead trees. She knows that she is dead, and she wants desperately to live once more, but she knows that's impossible. Of course, anything is possible now, as she's about to find out. A tall figure walks towards her. When it speaks, she knows that it's male.

"There you are," the man says. "I've been looking for you."

The girl knows that this man is dead; she saw him die! _But then,_ she thinks, _so am I. This must be some sort of…land of the dead._

The man laughs. "Yes, that's right. But I know that you want to live once more, so I am here to let you do just that."

She opens her mouth silently, words failing her for a moment. "…how?" she asks when her voice will finally work once more.

"I can give life back to anybody I wish, and I choose to give it to you."

She bows her head. "Thank you," she whispers.

"Not a problem. But before I let you go, you need to promise something."

"What's that?"

"You cannot tell a soul that I gave your life back, or else it will be taken away again."

She gulps. "Okay. I won't tell anybody."

**Short prologue, I know. But I couldn't really write any more like that without using names, and, although you've probably already figured out who the two people are, I won't say anything until later on in the story. But I'll type the first chapter as quickly as I can, and I'll try to have it up today. Key word, _try_.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Here's the first!  
**

**Chapter 1**

**Isabel**

It's been a year since the whole battle thing happened, and nobody's been the same since. Especially not Ethan, although it's obvious why he's like this, what with Rochelle's death still in the front of his mind.

Ever since Ethan brought Rochelle's limp body back from the forest with the poison arrow in her heart, ever since I told him that there was nothing I could do for her, he's been a wreck. He keeps putting distance between himself and us, the rest of the Named, so that we barely even know him any more. According to Shaun, all Ethan does all day is stays in his room, even if it's a bright and sunny day like it has been for a while now.

So is it just nerves that make me feel like something bad is going to happen, or is it really my sixth sense? Even I can't tell any more. But I just can't shake the feeling of impending doom. I need to talk to somebody, but who? Believe it or not, all 8 of us have been sort of distant with one another. If I tell Jimmy or Matt, they'd both just say that it's nerves making me feel like this, Shaun would try to talk to Ethan who would only deny it and keep himself locked in his room even more, and Neriah wouldn't really do anything.

Then it hits me, and I can't believe that I didn't see it before! The one person that I can count on to listen to what I have to say, the one I can trust to value my opinion and give me his in return, the one I can count on to not try and push my fears away or make me feel stupid for even bringing the subject up: Arkarian.

Even though it's 8:00 p.m., I know that he'll open his door for me. So I tell Matt that I'm going out, but let him figure out where on his own.

As I'm walking to Arkarian's chambers, I remember the first time I ever met him, when Ethan was training me.

_Flashback_

_Arkarian meets us outside a mountain wall, welcoming me with open arms and a warm embrace. "It's so lovely to meet you at last, Isabel," he says. "Ah, all is unfolding exactly as it should."_

_I feel my face turn beetroot red. I swallow hard and lick my lips, eyes fixed on Arkarian's bright blue hair. It hangs loose around his shoulders, enhancing its vivid colour. Ethan laughs at my reaction. "You'll get used to Arkarian's cryptic chattering, and his blue hair – eventually."_

"_How you flatter me, Ethan," he says dryly._

_End Flashback_

I get to the stone "door" of Arkarian's chambers and practically scream in my thoughts for him to open up. The door disappears and Arkarian meets me halfway down the hall.

"Is everything alright?" he asks, obviously concerned.

I grab his hands in mine and look straight into his violet eyes. "I need to talk to you," I say.

He says nothing, but leads me to his room. Like I need any direction to get there, I mean, I've been here many times before. He sits on his bed and I sit beside him.

"So, what's wrong?"

As I launch into the story of all my fears, he sits quietly, simply listening. Once I reach the end, he asks me, "Did you actually see anything happen?"

I shake my head. "No, I just have the feeling, but I don't know what to do about it."

Arkarian is silent for a moment. "I can see why you would feel this way. Ethan hasn't spoken to anybody for almost a year now. But if you think about it, he doesn't have anybody aside from his family to love."

I cock my head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he and Rochelle were getting along well, but they didn't even acknowledge their feelings for each other until the last minute. Now she's dead, and being around any of us only reminds him of his loss; Shaun has Laura, Jimmy has your mom, Matt has Neriah, and I have you. The only person who he can be around without him being reminded of love is Dillon, but even Dillon is still trying to get a girlfriend. Ethan…he just refuses to move on from Rochelle."

I nod. It all makes sense. "I guess you're right. But do you think that this feeling I have is just me being…well, me? Or do you think that it's actually my sixth sense warning me that Ethan's in danger?"

"I think," Arkarian says slowly, "that until you have a vision showing what will – or might – happen, all we can do is try and get Ethan to be a little more social."

This is the reason I came to Arkarian. I knew that I could tell him what was on my mind without feeling like a total moron. I nod my head, suddenly noticing how heavy my eyelids are. I look over at the clock, and see that it's already 10:00. "Whoa," I mutter, "I've been here for 2 whole hours already?"

Arkarian looks at the clock as well. "Now that's what I call having time fly. Do you think you're awake enough to get home?"

"Not really, but I should at least try. Mom might get worried if I'm not home soon."

"Don't worry about her. I'm sure that either Matt or Jimmy will have figured out where you are by now. I mean, where else would you spend two hours? I'm sure that Matt or Jimmy will take care of your mom."

I simply nod, feeling my eyelids start to close. I fall backwards on the bed, suddenly aware of how close Arkarian is to me. I smile to myself as I drift off to sleep.

**Well, there's chapter 1! Hope you enjoyed it. I changed a few things from the original, and (as you've probably guessed) the flashback was taken from The Named, but switched to Isabel's POV. Thanks to Aerith4you for looking over my original copy. I'll probably have the second chapter up either today or tomorrow, so you won't have to wait very long. Promise. **


	3. Chapter 2

**Grrr…I started typing this last night, and I was almost done! I saved my work and everything! When I woke up this morning and went on the computer, it was gone! So now I have to re-write the whole chapter! Oh fun…**

**Chapter 2 **

**Arkarian**

Isabel's eyes close as she falls backwards onto my bed. I pull the covers overtop her and then flop down myself. At that moment, Matt's voice rings through my head. _Arkarian? Is Isabel there with you?_

_Yes. But she's asleep._

_Oh. Well, wake her up and tell her to come home._

_Why? Did something happen?_

It takes a while for Matt to respond, and when he does, he chooses his words carefully. _Sort of…_

_Matt, tell me what's going on so I can prepare Isabel._

_Nothing like that! Ethan is here and wants to talk to her._

_Well, what does he want? I can tell her right now._

Silence for a moment. Then, _He won't tell me, but he says it's urgent. He really wants to talk to Isabel. Just get her to come home please._

_Okay. _I gently shake her and her eyes flutter open. "Morning already?" she asks.

"No, not yet. But Ethan is at your house, wanting to talk to you."

She flops back down on the bed. "Can't he come here and talk to me? I don't feel like leaving just yet."

"I'll check," I say. _Isabel doesn't want to leave,_ I tell Matt. _Is there any way that Ethan can come here instead?_

_He's coming, but he's going to use his wings, so he'll be there soon._

"Ethan's coming," I tell Isabel. She groans and sits up.

"It's a good thing I'm still in my clothes," she says with a smile. The two of us go towards the entrance, where Ethan is walking up.

He sees that I'm coming, and stops. "No. I'm not going to say anything unless only Isabel is here," he says stubbornly.

I sigh. "Ethan, you know that she's just going to tell me what you say later. Why not save her the trouble, and tell us both?"

"Because."

His thoughts aren't very well guarded, so I see that he doesn't want everyone to know what it is that he wants to say. "If it's anything serious, you know that the Tribunal will be told, don't you?" I ask.

He tries to leave, but I stop him. "What is your problem?" he yells.

"I'm only trying to help."

Ethan pushes me out of the way. "I'm leaving. Not just here, but all of Angel Falls. I'm leaving and not coming back." And he does. Isabel is standing a few feet behind me, a shocked expression on her face.

"Why?" she whispers softly before running after him, her long brown hair trailing behind her.

A few minutes later, she comes back. Seeing as how Ethan's not with her, I assume he's gone already. I take her in my arms and we walk back to my room. I hold her for a while, neither of us saying anything, then I ask her, "So he really left?"

She nods, tears filling her beautiful eyes. Before long, she's sobbing in my arms. "I d-don't understand it!" she says, "I thought Ethan was tougher than that! Why would h-he just leave like that?"

"Well, he has gone through a lot. His sister dying, then you on your first mission, his mom almost…" I trail off, realizing what I said.

Isabel looks at me. "What did you say?"

Uh oh. Ethan and I swore never to tell her what actually happened that night. "Uh…his mom almost died?"

She shakes her head. "No, before that."

"Uh…his sister?"

"No! The one in the middle!"

I'm trapped. "The…one about you?"

She smiles slightly. "Yes. Now we're making some progress."

"Uh…okay, I'll tell you." And I do. Surprisingly enough, she's not as shocked by the news as I thought she would be. Especially not the part about me being her soul mate.

"I knew that something must have happened, because after that night, I started thinking of you more often. As in, I thought about you before I went to sleep each night."

Now there's something cliché for you. "So…no hard feelings about not being told earlier?"

She smiles. "None at all. Though I must know why."

I run a hand through my hair. "Well, I think it's pretty obvious, really. We didn't say anything because we thought that knowing you had died would kill your adventurous spirit and make you not want to go on any more missions."

She laughs. "As if! I love being with the Guard, and I always have. Nothing could ever make me leave."

Isabel wraps her arms around my neck and leans in closer to me. Brown eyes meet violet, but only for a second, because I decide to kiss her. She is caught slightly off guard, but returns the kiss with passion.

Just then, Matt appears at the door. Isabel pulls away, staring straight at him, while I'm looking anywhere but. Matt looks at his sister, then at me, then back at Isabel. "You…he…you…what's going on here?"

Isabel steps forward. "What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on, Matt. Arkarian was comforting me, that's what, because you seem to think that telling the Tribunal what Ethan did is more important than me!"

"No, Isabel, that's not true! You're my sister, and I love you."

But she doesn't want to hear that. "Oh yeah, like that's true. If it were, you'd have simply told the Tribunal through your thoughts instead of actually travelling to Athens in order to tell them!"

"Isabel, calm down," Matt tries, but we both know it's useless; once Isabel is upset, it takes more than that to calm her down.

"No! All my life since Dad left, you've tried to get me to open up to you, to trust you. But now, the one time I'm actually trying to do just that, you won't listen to me!"

"Isabel-"

"I came to you seeking comfort. Failing that, I went to the only person I knew would give it to me."

"Isabel-"

"If you have a problem with that, then too bad. Arkarian and I love each other, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Brother and sister stand glaring at each other, gradually calming down. Although Isabel looks like she's still ready to kill if Matt says anything else wrong (not like it would make a difference seeing as how he's immortal), Matt goes over to her and gives her a hug. "I'm sorry, Isabel," he whispers.

"It's okay. I'm the one who should be sorry."

Wow. They made up quickly. Matt hears this thought and grins. _We've had worse fights than this before, _he tells me, _but she's my sister, and we always make things better in the end._ "So," Matt says to Isabel, "are you going to stay here for the night or come home?"

She thinks about it for a while. She opens her thoughts to me but not to Matt, and I see that she's torn; she wants to go home with Matt so her mom doesn't worry, but at the same time, she wants to stay here with me.

"Just go, Isabel," I tell her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Grudgingly, she nods. "But before I go…" she comes over to me, right in front of her brother, and kisses me. Matt stands looking impatient, and Isabel pulls away. "Bye, Arkarian," she says as the two of them leave.

"Goodbye," I say back

**Well, I'm screwed. I wasn't supposed to make Arkarian tell Isabel about that first mission until chapter 10, but I suppose it works here too... I'm sorry if Arkarian is slightly OOC, but you have to cut me some slack. After all, this is my first GoT fic. No, I'm not sorry that Ethan is OOC, because that's how I wanted him to act Review and you'll get a pickled cucumber (A.K.A: a pickle) and the chance to tell me how insanely crappy this story is! Won't that be fun...  
**


	4. Chapter 3

**So, apparently my story ****doesn't**** suck. Thanks you guys! Isn't it just sad that there are only 4 pages to the GoT section? I guess that either means that not many people know about the series or not many people like it…I'd prefer to think it's the first one. I'm sorry it took so long to update, I've just been really busy. Oh, and I'm sorry if Arkarian (and others, but especially him) are OOC, but you'll have to get used to it, cause I'm not changing them at all. In any case, here's the long awaited (or so I hope) 3****rd**** chapter!**

**Chapter 3**

** Isabel**

Matt and I don't say anything to each other until we get home. I, of course, have to walk in front of him just so he can get home in one piece without bumping into things. Unfortunately, it doesn't do him much good.

By the time we get there, it's around 11:30, so all I want to do is go to bed. But, of course, Mom wants to know exactly where I was and what I was doing. While I'm trying to convince her that nothing bad happened (yeah, right), Matt tells Jimmy what happened.

After my tenth time saying, "I'm fine" to Mom, Jimmy intervenes. "Let the girl get some rest, Coral," he says, "She looks beat."

Grudgingly, she lets me go, and I whisper a thank you to Jimmy as I go upstairs, grateful for the railing.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I wake up to Matt shaking me. I sit up. "What happened?" I ask.

"Nothing bad," he assures me, "but my father called a meeting for all of the Named, and you kind of have to come along."

"Fine," I say. "Now get out of my room so I can change."

I come back downstairs to leave with Jimmy and Matt a few minutes later after I've picked out some random T-shirt and jeans. As we walk, I ask, "So, where is this meeting going to take place, and how are we getting there?"

Matt closes his eyes momentarily, and Jimmy puts a finger to his lips, signalling for me to be quiet. Just as I'm starting to get annoyed that nobody's telling me anything, Arkarian appears out of nowhere.

No word of what happened last night passes anyone's lips, but I can't see why Matt's being so cold towards Arkarian. I mean, we all know that Arkarian would never do anything to hurt me on purpose, so my brother has no reason to feel like he needs to protect me. Besides, that's Jimmy's job. That's the reason he was sent to live with us after my dad left.

I break the ice by clearing my throat loudly and asking, once again, where we're going and how we're getting there. This time (finally) somebody answers me.

"First we're going to get Shaun, Neriah, and Dillon, and then meet in my chambers where I will then transport us all to Athens for the meeting," Arkarian says.

I nod, satisfied. In order to get the other three faster, we all split up; Matt goes to get Neriah, Jimmy goes for Shaun, while Arkarian and I go for Dillon.

On the way, I apologize for my brother's actions last night. Arkarian simply waves it away, saying that no apologies are needed. I smile at him for being so forgiving. We're walking side-by-side, so I reach out to grab his hand with mine. I look up at him and notice that this is one of the only times he's been out for quite a few years. He hears these thoughts and takes his hand back from mine, running it through his hair nervously.

"What am I doing out here?" he mutters. "People will see."

I stop completely and turn to face him. He does the same to me. "Arkarian," I start, "have you even seen how half of these people dress now? Sure, you might have stood out 600 years ago, but now?" I search for the right words. "You would be a hit with some people. With most people, actually." I take his hand in both of mine. "Nobody would even believe any of us if we told them how old you are. They'd just think we're completely insane. So I think its time that you stopped secluding yourself from the world and face modern times. Embrace your inner self!"

After that, he seems a little more at ease. We walk the rest of the way to Dillon's place, and I ring the doorbell. Dillon answers it and sees the two of us. "Isabel? Arkarian? What are you two doing here?"

"Dartemis has called a meeting for all the Named. Jimmy's getting Shaun, and Matt's getting Neriah."

Dillon looks at me, confused. "What about Ethan?" he asks.

I look away so that he doesn't see the tears in my eyes. Arkarian takes over for me. "Ethan is the whole reason we're having this meeting," he says plainly.

Realization dawns on Dillon. "Hold on," he says, "let me grab my coat."

**Well? I know, I know. It's been forever. But like I already said, I've been busy! Just to make it up to you, I'll post the next chapter today as well, okay? That's a promise. See you in a few! And don't forget to review! Hey……I never knew I could rhyme……..**


	5. Chapter 4

**Thanks to all my reviewers! I love you all!!!!!!! Just like I promised, here's chapter 4 on the same day as chapter 3:**

**Chapter 4 **

**Arkarian**

The three of us walk to the entrance of my chambers, where we find the other 4 waiting for us. I open the door for all 7 of us to go in, then transport us to Athens.

Once we get there, we're told to wait for a while in order for Dartemis and the rest of the Tribunal to get ready. Matt takes over at this point, and after a few moments have passed, he leads us into the room.

We all take our places at a table directly across the room from the Tribunal. A few minutes pass where nothing happens, then Dartemis speaks.

"Does everybody know why we're here today?" Dillon and Neriah shake their heads while the rest of us nod. "Then, for the benefit of those who are unaware, I'll tell you." He goes on to explain the fact that Ethan has decided to leave Angel Falls, and also that the Tribunal as well as Isabel know that something bad is going to happen. The only problem is that nobody knows what or when.

"So," he says, "we need to find him and bring him back before anything happens." Dartemis brings out a map and points to four places near Angel Falls. "King Richard and I went through each possible place for Ethan to be, and narrowed it down to four. Since there are seven of you, you will need to be split into groups. One person will go alone, while the other six will travel in groups of two.

"Dillon is to go with Neriah, Jimmy with Shaun, Matt with Isabel, and Arkarian will go alone."

This statement gets grumbles from most, other than Jimmy and Shaun, who are best friends.

"Why those groups?" Isabel asks. I can tell how much she wants to go with me, and I want to go with her too.

Dartemis simply smiles at her. "Because, Isabel, you and your brother have some things to work out, as do Dillon and Neriah. Although I really don't want to send anybody out alone, I feel most comfortable with Arkarian going alone. As for Jimmy and Shaun, well, that much should be obvious; they are best of friends, and work extremely well together. Does that answer your question?"

Isabel nods, and Dartemis gives all the groups a different place to go to. The plan is simple; each of us will leave on a different day, so that nobody notices seven people leave at the same time. And I am the first person to leave, followed by Jimmy and Shaun the day after, then Dillon and Neriah the day after that, and Isabel will leave with Matt the day after that.

In preparation for going early tomorrow morning, I get Isabel to dye my hair brown and cut it short so that I won't stand out at all. As soon as she leaves, I lay on my bed, half dreading morning.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

It takes me about 5 hours to walk to the city of Ravenville, and I can't see why anybody would want to come here, let alone Ethan. I mean, it's such a dark, depressing place, and…oh, now I see. Everybody here has dark hair, and I'm glad for dying mine.

So, I go and check into a hotel, using the name James Johnson, which was decided beforehand. Immediately after that, I begin my search for Ethan. I just really hope he's here…I wouldn't want to have gone through all this for nothing.

**So? How is it so far? The plot's starting to thicken…but this is nothing, ****nothing**** compared to what's going to happen at the end of the series…yes, the third book in this trilogy that I'm writing is almost finished being written out on paper! You're all going to hate me…But for now, let's stick with the basics of you reading and reviewing and telling me how much you love my fic! I'm so modest, aren't I? Okay, I'll just shut up now so you can review…any time now…JUST STOP READING THIS!!!!!!! Only joking! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Isabel**

It's been 3 days since the meeting, and Matt and I are scheduled to search for Ethan tomorrow. We've told Mom that we're going to a brother/sister group thing in Opreyton, which is the place we're going.

Unfortunately, I guess that Arkarian really wanted to check up on me, because when I get home from Neriah's place, helping her pack for her trip, I see Mom sitting at the kitchen table with a letter in her hands. I see the name at the bottom, and scream in my thoughts for Matt to get down here. I know that I won't be able to face Mom alone.

I have to admit that Matt is a good actor. He comes down the stairs and acts like he's simply surprised to see me back from Neriah's so early. He sees the letter in Mom's hands, including the name at the bottom, and flashes me an amused grin.

" 'Dearest Isabel'?" he quotes mockingly, "Who's this from?"

Ha! As if he doesn't know! But, of course, he has to play innocent in front of Mom.

"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Mom says, looking from me to Matt. "You two are hiding something from me, I can tell."

Stupid motherly instinct…I glance at Matt to see what he has to say, but he puts a finger to his lips and closes his eyes for a moment. Mom starts to say something, but I put my hand up to silence her. I know, it sounds rude, but it's obvious that Matt is communicating with Dartemis to see if we can tell Mom about the Guard and everything that's happened over the past while. After a few moments, his eyes open again, and he starts to explain to Mom what's going on.

"Well, you see," he starts nervously, "Isabel and I aren't really going to a brother/sister convention tomorrow…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Once we finish explaining everything, (a task that takes 2 hours), Mom has a bewildered look on her face.

"I don't believe a word of it," she says firmly.

"Think of something completely out of the ordinary," Matt instructs her, "Something that I wouldn't be able to guess." I can see where he's going with this.

Mom rolls her eyes but obliges all the same. Matt closes his eyes and opens them again.

"Try thinking something other than 'This is nuts'."

A shocked expression falls over her face, quickly replaced by one of concentration. She nods her head to indicate that she's ready, and Matt closes his eyes once more.

"Tonight, for dinner, we will be going to a fancy restaurant, and you are going to buy us – no, wait – Isabel, anything she wants on the menu."

I stare at him, sure that he's making this up, but Mom is clapping her hands. I turn to look at her.

"Why?" I ask.

She stares at me, as if waiting for me to say I'm kidding, then says, "How can you not know?"

"I'm not a Truthseer like Matt."

"No, no. It's your birthday on Sunday, but since I don't know when you and Matt will be getting back, I decided to take you out tonight. Matt doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to – ow!"

Mom accidentally gives herself a paper cut on Arkarian's letter. Matt gives me a subtle nudge, but I'm already on my way forwards. He's already had his chance to prove what he can do. Now it's my turn.

Since Lorian enhanced each of our skills last year, I really don't have to be touching Mom to heal the cut, but I decide to so that, (hopefully) it will be easier for her to believe all this. I walk over to where she's sitting and take her finger gently in my hand. When I take my hand off, the cut is completely gone. Mom gasps and examines her finger almost as thoroughly as I did the first time I healed myself. I laugh at the memory.

Mom looks up at us. "Okay, I believe you two now. Is Jimmy in on this too?"

We both nod. "And all three of you have managed to keep this a secret from me for all this time?"

We nod again, and Mom asks me what my second skill is.

"Well, that's something that I can't turn on and off at will. Sometimes I'll get visions of the future, but Arkarian says that I might sometimes get visions of the past, or even the present somewhere else. It hasn't happened yet, but it might."

As I say these words, I see the familiar blinding white light. Before long, the pain that comes with trying to stop a vision comes as well. So I stop fighting it, and make sure to close my mind in case it's something bad that I don't want Matt to see. When it finally comes, it's not as clear as the other ones I've had, and a few minutes after it passes, I'm still trying to figure it out completely. When I do, I almost scream in shock. Even so, I can't stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks.

Mom comes over to me and wraps her arms around my body. Matt comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder. I turn to look at him.

"What did you see?" he asks, his voice calm. For a moment, I'm tempted to show him, but stop myself. No, this is something nobody should know.

"I don't want to tell you. You wouldn't believe me if I did."

Thankfully, he drops it. I don't want him to know. Hell, I don't even want Arkarian to know! What I saw was Ethan. But he wasn't alone…a girl was walking with him in a dark and dreary place. I knew right then that this is happening right now, and I even had a hunch about who the girl was, but it was still a shock to see the girl turn and gaze at me with such familiar green eyes.

**So? Who's the girl? Only I know! Well…my friend, Aerith4you, knows as well, cause she read this fic when it was still on paper, but you know what I mean! Review telling me who you think the girl is, and whoever gets it right will be congratulated at the end of the next chapter! Yes, I'm typing these chapters up fast. I like this fic, and I feel I owe it to you all to give you lots of chapters, seeing as how I sort of kind of skipped out on you all for quite some time! That, and I have nothing better to do…except write the rest of the last book in this series out on paper! That's right, folks, the series is almost all on paper! Then all I have to do is type it all up! …you've got a looooooong wait ahead of you…**


	7. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews! Even though there were only two…oh well! I think I may have said this before, but this isn't the best out of the trilogy. I, personally, think that the second one is the best, but the third is good as well……okay, I'll shut up now and start the fic. –readers cheer- Oh shut up.**

**Chapter 6 **

**Arkarian**

Okay, so I sent a letter to Isabel, big deal! Or so I thought when I sent it. Just then, Matt's voice rings out in my head.

_Arkarian! Why did you do that? _he asks, sounding angry.

I don't see what the problem is. _Because I miss her, that's why._

_Well, you'll be happy to know that because of your little letter, the two of us had to tell Mom everything._

_Why would you have to do that because of me? _I ask, thoroughly confused.

_Mom was the one who opened the letter._

_Oh. Well, how did she take it all?_

If possible, Matt sounds even angrier now. _Oh, she believed us all right. Especially when Isabel had a vision right in front of her._

Oh crap. _Did she tell you what she saw?_

_No. She said that I wouldn't believe her if she told me. But she probably would tell __you_

I sigh. _Can't you just drop it, Matt? She loves me, and I love her, end of story. Have you ever thought that the reason she never tells you anything is because she feels like you're invading her privacy? Maybe if you back off, she'll trust you more._

That shuts him up. Suddenly, I see someone walking in front of me. He turns around, and I see that it's Ethan. A familiar looking girl stands beside him, and Ethan smiles at her. I'm surprised! He hasn't smiled since Rochelle died!

"Ethan!" I call out as I walk towards him.

He has a puzzled look on his face. "Do I know you?" he asks. It's then that I remember the changes to my hair.

I bring my voice down to a whisper, in case anybody else is around. "It's me, Arkarian."

He takes a sharp breath in, and the girl's eyes widen. Her very familiar green eyes. "What are you doing here?" Ethan asks.

I quickly contact the others to tell them to come, and then tell Ethan why I'm here. After I'm done, he says, "So let me get this straight: the whole Tribunal thinks that something bad is going to happen to me if I don't come back to Angel Falls, is that correct? Oh, and let's not forget the fact that the rest of the Named are all out looking for me in different places."

"Not anymore," a voice says from behind me. I turn to see everybody else.

Ethan's eyes widen, then narrow again. "So it seems that the nine Named are together again." His words have us all confused.

Isabel comes to stand beside me, and says softly, "Ethan, there's only 8 of us." She tries to sound confident, but I can't help hearing a note of nervousness in her voice. Is this what she saw in her vision?

The girl beside Ethan turns to look at us, and speaks for the first time, her arms crossed in front of her. "What, and I don't exist all of the sudden?"

It's then that I realize, along with everybody else, who this girl is. "Rochelle," Neriah breathes.

"But…how?" Shaun asks, confused. "We all saw the arrow, and Ethan saw you die!"

Rochelle sighs. "I…I wish I could tell you how, but I can't. Maybe sometime in the future, but for now, it'll have to remain unknown to all but me." She glares at Isabel suddenly. "Although it seems that Ethan and I were the only ones unaware that I was even going to die!"

Neriah, peacemaker that she is, says, "The only reason nobody told you, Rochelle, was because we didn't want you to over-react. And we didn't tell Ethan because we were sure he'd tell you." Her calm voice only pisses Rochelle off even more.

"You didn't want me to over-react??? Well guess what? I'm over-reacting, only because I wasn't told how I was going to die! You all led me to believe that everything was fine, and nothing bad would happen, so you didn't warn me! How do you think I should react to knowing that I wasn't told something everybody else knew?"

"Well, the signs were pretty obvious," Ethan says, putting a hand on Rochelle's shoulder. "I mean, you jumped in front of the arrow to save me. I was Marduke's intended victim, and in doing that, you sacrificed yourself for me. We both should have seen it, or something like it, coming when the tunic you wore at your initiation was purple, the colour of self-sacrifice."

While the rest of the group talks about it, I'm the only one who notices Isabel slip away quietly into the night.

**Ooooooooooh! Where could Isabel be going? Only I know! The next chapter is probably one of my favourites, so I can guarantee that it'll be up quickly. Congrats to HaloAngel and potter-me- for guessing that the girl in Isabel's vision was Rochelle! I ****would**** offer to put you later on in the story, but it's already written, and I can't fit any more new characters into the last two or three chapters of the third one…maybe I'll feature you guys in the next GoT fic I write…I'm planning on making a GoT crossover with HP, only this time, the HP characters come to Angel Falls, cuz almost every Harry Potter cross has the other book/show/game/whatever characters going to Hogwarts. This one will be different, though. So if either of you are interested, tell me, and I'll make note of it! Happy reviewing!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Here is my second favourite chapter in this whole fic! I think…let me see…There's a tiny bit more humour next chapter, but it's not my fav…although irony is my best friend…chapter 10 is good too, and it's tied with chapter 11 for being my fav, and there's only 11 chapters, so I guess that this would count as my second fav chapter…Sorry about all that! I just needed to refresh my memory…yeah, this is the chapter where the sub-plot decides to come out and play. I pride myself on my sub-plots. Okay, I'll shut up now.**

**Chapter 7 (Only 4 more to go!)**

**Isabel**

As everyone is talking, I feel a very unexpected wave of nausea come over me, and slip away to find a bathroom. When I finally do, most of my breakfast goes down the toilet. The past two months have been like this, and – excuse the pun – I'm getting sick of it! After a few minutes, I come back out again, to see Arkarian sitting on a log, waiting. I quickly scramble my thoughts around, since I'm not concentrated enough to completely hide them, but I realize that they were out in the open while I was in the bathroom.

"A-Arkarian! What are you doing here?" I ask nervously. And more importantly, "Did you over-hear any of my thoughts in there?"

He shakes his head. "No, I wasn't listening. As for the first question, I saw you leave the group and wanted to make sure you're okay. Are you? Is there anything you want to talk about?"

I sit down beside him and sigh. What can I say? It's sweet that he wants to make sure everything's fine, but I know that I can't tell him the reason I left. At least, not the whole reason. "I'm just not feeling well, that's all." I stop myself before I say too much.

Arkarian places his hand on top of mine, and says, "You knew that Rochelle came back, didn't you?"

I shiver slightly and nod my head. I still feel a little sick, but that's only to be expected. "I saw her walking with Ethan in a vision last night."

He sighs. "Isabel, I can tell that you're hiding something. What's going on that you don't want me to know?"

I hesitate, unsure of what he'd say if I tell him. It would be awkward, that much is certain. So I decide to tell him one of the other things on my mind. "Well, tomorrow's my 18th birthday, and you said that my ability to stop ageing would physically start then. What should I expect?"

"I honestly don't know, but I can tell you that there should be some sort of sensation that you feel." He stops. "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?"

Oh, he's good! It's just good that there are a lot of things on my mind that I can say, and not feel like I'm lying to him. "I'm still worried about Ethan. I mean, all the Tribunal had the same feeling as me that something bad would happen, which is why they sent us all on this crazy trip in the first place. Well, now we've found him, and Rochelle, but nothing has happened yet. That can mean only one of two things: either the bad thing has yet to happen, and we're just sitting here wasting precious time, or nothing bad was ever going to happen, and we're just all getting paranoid, and-"

Arkarian's hand flies to my lips, silencing me. I notice that there are tears streaming down my cheeks. He pulls me close, and kisses me. I kiss him back, and we don't stop until Rochelle comes running up to us, panting.

"There you two are! I've been looking all over for you!" At the sight of our confused faces, she just grabs our hands and pulls, saying, "No time to explain! I just hope that everybody brought their weapons…"

I assume, from that statement, that the something bad I knew would happen is happening. Rochelle glances at me with a half grin. "You're absolutely right, Isabel."

We get to the place that was, only minutes ago, packed with people. Except now, the only people there are the other six Named, fighting off – my eyes widen as I see – none other than the Goddess of Chaos herself! Beside me, Arkarian stops dead in his tracks. He turns to Rochelle. "How did she…"

Rochelle shrugs. "Beats me. All that matters is that we take her down." She takes off her gloves that I didn't even realize she was wearing, and, surprisingly, her hands look a lot less wild and a lot more controlled than the last time I saw her a year ago.

She sees me looking and winks. "I've been getting help," she says.

Arkarian goes to help the others, but Rochelle forces me to stay behind. "You ready to do this, Isabel?" she asks.

I shiver unexpectedly. "I don't know. It'll be nice to have a bit of action, but…I don't know if I can – or rather, should – fight." When Rochelle doesn't inquire further, I know that she's read my thoughts, and knows what wrong. I turn to her. "Thanks for coming when you did," I say softly. "It saved me from having to answer any more uncomfortable questions."

She returns her focus to me. "Isabel, you're going to have to tell him sooner or later, you know that right?"

I nod. "Yeah, I know. I'm just nervous."

"And I understand that, but I'm sure that he'll accept the facts. Arkarian is a very understanding guy, and I think – Neriah agrees – that you're damn lucky to have him. Not that our guys aren't great too, but…ya know."

I smile. "Maybe you're right, Rochelle."

She scoffs and puts her hands on her hips. "Maybe?" We both burst out laughing. After we've calmed down, I sigh.

"It's not just him I'm worried about," I confide. "It's also telling everyone else that worries me."

She puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Well, at least you don't have to worry about telling me! And if you like, I'll tell Ethan for you."

I smile at her again. "Thanks, Rochelle. You're the best. You know, we never really got a chance to be close friends before. When you were dating my brother, I tried to be friends with you, but I understand that you didn't want anything to distract you from your goal."

She laughs. "Yeah, like that worked! I mean, it was fine at first, but then Ethan came around…"

I laugh with her.

"I can promise you one thing," she says.

"And what's that?"

"You and Arkarian will make great parents."

**And the sub-plot is out! So now we know what's up with Isabel! Congrats to anybody who figured it out at the beginning of the chapter…you beat my friend. I even gave her "subtle" hints about it. Subtle as in "big huge hints that I thought gave it all away", and it still took her till the end of the chapter to figure it out! No offence, Chantelle. And I got the chance to build up more of a friendship between Isabel and Rochelle, my two fav girls in all of the Guardians of Time trilogy! Well…Chloe Campbell's alright too…you'll see why in the next story…well, I'd better get started on one of the funniest chapters of the whole fic! (and even ****it's**** not that funny)**


	9. Chapter 8

**I'm on a roll here! This is my third chapter posted in a day! Hooray! –llamas clap…somehow- Here you go!**

**Chapter 8 **

**Arkarian**

I join the other 6, and Matt asks me where Isabel and Rochelle are. I point a few feet back to where they're standing. "Over there," I say.

"Well, get them over here so we can fight!"

I tell Rochelle to come and bring Isabel, and Dillon says, "Fight? Are you insane? Do you see who that is up there? Seriously, Matt, if we go up against her, we're all screwed." **(A/N: That little outburst from Dillon was thanks to a retarded game I played with a friend where that's all Dillon would say: "We're screwed". Eventually, after Neriah slapped him 5 times, he stopped. But I just had to put that in here. I'll shut up now. Yes, I say that a lot.) **

Matt looks at me, and I shake my head. "Lathenia killed my father. She's going down."

Isabel and Rochelle join us, making the Named whole again. Matt yells, and Jimmy, Shaun, Rochelle, Ethan, Isabel, and Dillon all rush forward to fight the Order's soldiers. Matt, Neriah and I stay behind to fight Lathenia. Although only Matt or Neriah can actually kill her, I can still fight, and I want to hurt her for what she did to me.

Matt gives us our directions. _Arkarian, you distract Lathenia while Neriah and I attack from above._

_Got it,_ I reply, and Matt and Neriah change into crows, taking off into the sky. My path to Lathenia is clear, with everybody else fighting the Order's soldiers. Although I know I won't be able to do too much damage to her, my job is only to distract her from seeing Matt and Neriah above her, though I keep all my thoughts well guarded unless it's either Matt, Neriah, or Rochelle.

At first, I think that Lathenia is too busy watching her army fight to even notice me, but then she spots me walking towards her. Since my hair is different still, she doesn't recognize me right away, but her gaze soon shifts to my eyes.

"Ah, Arkarian," she says. "I see that you're trying to blend in with the rest of the world."

Her small talk surprises me momentarily, but I make sure not to let my guard down. "The hair's only temporary," I say before turning around to get rid of the three soldiers trying to sneak up on me. Each of them then gets hit with one of Jimmy's grenade-pebbles, blowing up on impact.

Lathenia turns away for a moment, and I quickly scan the skies for Matt and Neriah.

_Where are you guys? _I ask.

_We're the two bats circling above Lathenia's head,_ Neriah replies. I look up, but find that I'm unable to spot them. Luckily, Isabel's fighting brings her right beside me, so I ask her to look for me. She spots them almost instantly, and raises a finger to point them out. They're just barely visible against the black sky, but I eventually see the outline of two bats.

Isabel returns to her fighting, and I notice that she has her light staff in her hands, fully lit. Lathenia turns her attention back to me, and begins to fight, but Matt and Neriah swoop down on her at that moment, this time as falcons, scraping her with their talons. They land and return to their human forms, and Neriah stand back a bit, shooting lightning bolts at her from her hands, while Matt gets right up there, swinging his axe down on her and setting her on fire at the same time.

"Cool," I whisper to him as he passes me. He winks.

By now, all of us (even the Order members) have stopped to watch the three immortals battle it out. Even though she's on fire, it doesn't stop the Goddess from fighting back. Neriah and Matt continue with their strategy, which seems to be working pretty well. Lathenia can only really hit Matt, since Neriah is way too far away, but even Matt constantly eludes her grasp while still hitting her.

Isabel's thoughts come pouring into my head as she comes to stand beside me, her hand reaching for mine. _If they keep this up, we might win!_ I smile at her, our fingers intertwining **(A/N: I love that word, don't you?)**. "Don't jinx it," I warn her. She giggles guiltily.

Just then, Rochelle's voice fills my head. _Arkarian, Isabel has something she'd like to tell you about tomorrow._

_How do you know?_ I ask her.

_We talked._

I turn to Isabel. "Rochelle says that you wanted to tell me something about tomorrow."

She raises and eyebrow. "Oh really? What else has Rochelle told you?" She glances at Rochelle, who's standing a few feet behind us. Rochelle smiles sweetly and waves.

"Only that. Why, is there something else you told her that you don't want me to know?"

"No," she says nonchalantly. "Tomorrow's my birthday, and I'd like to have a party. Depending on the outcome of this battle, I'd like to invite all of the Named."

Her words get me thinking about what I can get her for her birthday, and then it hits me. I'll get her the one thing she wouldn't accept from anybody else…

**Oooooooooh…what's Arkarian going to get Isabel? You only have to wait another 10 minutes or so for the end of chapter 10 to find out! I'm thinking of typing the rest of the story out tonight. I'll probably get started on the second one either tonight or tomorrow…who knows? Maybe my typing will actually catch up to my writing! It's always a possibility, since I haven't really been writing out the third story very much lately…In case you haven't noticed with this chapter, my action scenes are always crap, so I try to get them done as quick as possible. That's why there wasn't that much fighting. If you like cheesy clichés and unexpected dialogue, stay tuned to the next chapter, which will be up in about 5 minutes or so. Don't forget to review!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Here you go!**

**Chapter 9**

**Isabel**

Everybody watches Matt and Neriah fight Lathenia; some of the more cowardly Order members are biting their nails in fear. I've never seen my brother fight before, and I must say that he's pretty good. It goes on the same way for about an hour, with Neriah standing in the back shooting lightning bolts and Matt up there hitting Lathenia full on. Finally, Lathenia grows tired from all the blows she's taken, and falls down. Matt takes the opportunity to hold her down while Ethan passes him a dagger.

"Any last words?" he asks, rather cliché like.

Seeing as how Matt's foot is on her stomach for leverage and to keep her from getting up, Lathenia can barely breathe, let alone say anything, but she surprises us all by saying, very clearly, "You should be proud of yourselves, all nine of you. I honestly didn't expect you to beat me and my army, but here you are. I don't envy anyone why tries anything on you in the future. I know that this sounds weird coming from me, but I hope that you all do well-in whatever comes your way." As she says these last words, I swear that she looks directly at me. But then Matt stabs her, and it's all over.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As the nine of us walk back to Angel Falls, I discuss my party plans with Jimmy and Matt. Matt and I tell Jimmy what happened with Mom, and he agrees that she should be there, if only to be with me and meet Arkarian, since she's already given me her present.

Soon, everybody joins the conversation, and we're all talking about party games and other activities, what kind of pop, how long it should last, and, most importantly, what kind of cake.

Knowing Jimmy, he'll probably get the people at the cake store to put something special on the cake, so I tell him that no matter what it has to be one of those vanilla ice cream cakes with fudge and brownie crumbs in the center. Everyone laughs at the forcefulness of my statement, and I join in as well.

Arkarian is the only one not joining the rest of us in our conversation, and for some reason, he's staying at the back of the group. Rochelle comes over to me, and sees me glancing back at Arkarian.

"When are you going to tell him?" she asks me in a whisper.

I think about it for a while. "I don't know," I reply honestly.

She frowns. "You'll have to say something soon! I mean, you're like a month into this now, aren't you?"

"Two, actually," I correct her.

She waves a hand dismissively. "Whatever. The point is, it's going to start showing soon, and I think you'd be better off telling him before he finds out on his own. It would mean more to him."

I nod to show that I understand. Just then, I see the sign welcoming us to Angel Falls. As soon as we pass it, I feel a sense of warm security wash over me.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I wake up the next morning with a feeling of nervousness and excitement. I throw the blankets off myself and run to my closet, where I take out my mom's present to me; a deep scarlet dress. It's strapless and skin-tight – at least, the top part is. The top meets the bottom in a V-shape, the skirt then flowing in ripples down to the floor. I put that on and then slip my new pair of red high heels on my feet.

I brush my long brown hair out, piling it on top of my head in an elegant bun, and then place a golden tiara on. Thick, red lipstick goes on my lips and black mascara on my eyelashes that curls them beautifully. I put on my golden necklace with a heart shaped pendant and matching earrings, and after checking myself in the mirror, I walk downstairs. Mom meets me at the bottom of the stairs, gasping softly and hugging me.

"Oh, Isabel!" she exclaims, "You look beautiful! So grown up, too!" Tears form in her eyes.

"Thanks, Mom. Oh, and thanks for the dress, too."

She hugs me tighter. "My little baby's all grown up now!" she sobs. Jimmy comes over to comfort her.

"There, there, Coral. It's okay."

Matt walks past them with an amused look on his face. "Wow, Mom didn't get this emotional on my 18th!" he exclaims.

I smirk. "Probably because I'm the youngest, and now I'm an adult. So unless she has another, Mom technically has no kids left, only two young adults."

He looks at me. "She's right, though," he says. "You do look beautiful."

I hug him. "Thanks," I whisper.

"No prob. Its completely true."

Once Mom has calmed down, the four of us walk outside into the backyard to start setting up for the party.

After it's all set up, Matt and Jimmy go out to get "only the cake", while Mom and I start cooking and baking. It's only 10:00, and the party doesn't start until 11:30, but it takes us the better part of an hour to get it all, if you count all the giggling and talking as well as the time it took for the cookies and other snacks. The party will go for exactly 12 hours, from 11:30 am to 11:30 pm, so we'll need lots of snacks.

It obviously takes a whole hour just to buy a cake, because Matt and Jimmy get home right when the last snacks come out of the oven.

"Oh, good, you boys are back," Mom says. "Now you can help us bring the food out."

As we do so, I can't help but think that this is going to be one hell of a party.

**Okay, I'm going to have to post the next two chapters tomorrow, cuz I've gotta get to bed soon. It's getting late. But I promise that this fic will be done by tomorrow, and I'll hopefully start typing out the second one as well. Peace out!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the lovely reviews! So here's chapter 10!**

**Chapter 10 (only 1 left! Wah!)**

**Isabel**

At quarter after 11, everybody starts arriving. First is Arkarian, his hair back to normal, then Ethan, Rochelle, and Shaun, and after them is Neriah and Dillon.

Mom takes it upon herself to get to know Arkarian as best as she can, and I actually have to come over and force Mom to let me have some time with my boyfriend alone.

Once she leaves reluctantly, Arkarian pulls me into a deep kiss. "Happy Birthday, Isabel," he says. "You look beautiful today. Then again, you look beautiful all the time."

I grin. "Even when I wake up in the morning and my hair's a total mess and I haven't had time to shower yet?"

He gazes at me lovingly. "Especially then."

I giggle and pull away to greet everybody else. Ethan seems closer to his dad than before he ran away, as if that whole adventure made Shaun determined to get to know his son better. Ethan is happy that Rochelle's back (aren't we all?) and Shaun is getting along well with her too; more so than when she first joined the Guard.

Poor Dillon is, once again, the only one of the Named without somebody to love. But he seems fine with it.

"This makes it so that I'm free to date whoever I want," he tells me. "I feel sorry for the rest of you who are tied down to one person."

For the first hour or so, everyone just talks with each other. Then, at around 1:00, the games start. There are some classic party games from when I was about 4 that I put in just because, like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", but most of them are board games.

Later, we play couples Pictionary with a few extra rules: Truthseers aren't aloud to use their skills, and Ethan can't use his either. The teams should be obvious: Matt with Neriah, Ethan with Rochelle, Mom with Jimmy, me with Arkarian, and as the only two without their sweetheart there, Shaun with Dillon.

Guess who wins? That's right, Matt and Neriah. But only because she's such a talented artist! At around 8:00, we have dinner. Then, before cake, we have presents! My personal favourite part!

I open Matt's gift first, to find a pair of bungee-jumping passes. "If," he adds, "you can find someone crazy enough to want to go with you."

I get 50 bucks from Jimmy, a pair of roller blades from Shaun, a $50 gift card for Payless Shoe Source from Dillon, a paint brush set from Neriah (she wants to teach me art), a gift card for Home Outfitters from Ethan ("Because you're probably going to move out soon," he says, but I know that he knows Home Outfitters has baby furniture), Rochelle gives me a $50 gift card for Wal-Mart ("For clothes!" she says with a wink).

Arkarian is the last to give his gift, but it's definitely my favourite out of all.

He comes up to me, in front of everybody, and says, "Isabel, I was trying to think of something to give you that means as much to you as you do to me, and then I found it. The one thing that nobody else would ever give you: A simple question." He takes a deep breath, and I'm almost positive that I know what's coming next. When he gets down on one knee and takes out a little black box, I'm even more sure, and I feel tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Isabel Becket, will you marry me?"

I find myself unable to speak, so I scan the crowd to see if anybody knew that this was going to happen. By the looks on their shocked faces, Arkarian never told a soul.

I turn back to him, and try to find my voice once more. "Yes," I whisper softly. He slips the beautiful diamond ring on my finger, and stands up. I wrap my arms around him, and everybody claps. Mom also has tears streaming down her face.

But all I can think about is that I'm the luckiest girl in the world. This is, by far, the best day of my entire life.

**Okay, raise your hand. How many people saw this coming? How many people were as shocked as my friend? Oh…I can't see anyone's hand…just tell me in a review, then. If too many people saw it coming, I'll have to try to be a little more subtle…**


	12. Chapter 11

**Here it is, the last chapter. But never fear, for I shall be typing up the second story in just a few minutes! Put me on author alert if you haven't already, so that you'll know when I post the new fic. Or…I can just put a little author's note after this chapter when the next fic is posted…yeah, I think I'll do that…**

**Chapter 11 (the last one)**

**Isabel**** (yes, I've done three chapters in a row with Isabel's POV. But it works best for the content, you'll see.)**

Everybody stares at us, then Mom breaks the silence. "Let's all have some cake!" We all cheer in agreement, and Jimmy goes inside to get the cake from the freezer.

Now, if this were to happen two years ago, when I got my gift of sight, I'd have been blinded by the candles. Don't ask me how, but Jimmy managed to get 18 candles onto the surface of the ice-cream cake without it melting. He brings it out to a chorus of "Happy Birthday", and I see that there's a picture of all the Named on the cake, with Dillon doing bunny ears behind Ethan's head.

I laugh at the picture. "When did you take this?" I ask through my giggles.

"This morning while Matt and I were out," Jimmy replies.

I cut the cake and give everybody a piece. We all sit at the table; me at the head, Arkarian on my left, Rochelle on my right. Beside Arkarian is Matt, then Neriah, then Dillon. Beside Rochelle is Ethan, then Shaun, then Jimmy, and Mom sits at the other end of the table. Rochelle leans over to me while everyone else is talking, and whispers, "Are you really sure it's a good idea to eat cake?"

I groan softly. "Why have you taken it upon yourself to be my personal advisor all of the sudden?"

She grins. "Because there's always the chance that the baby won't like ice-cream cake, and then you'll be forced to tell everyone. I don't think that's exactly the ideal way for them to find out…"

She has a point, but I'm not about to let her win. "Well, if it happens, it happens. There's nothing I'm going to do about it." And with that, I take a bite of cake.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."

As it turns out, Rochelle was right. I guess the baby doesn't like ice-cream cake. Luckily for me, the bathroom is very close to the back door, so I'm able to make it before anything bad happens. I come out again to find Mom standing there, worrying like always.

"Are you alright? Do you have a fever? Did we get you the wrong cake?"

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Mom, I'm fine," I lie. "Just…nervous, that's all." Yeah, right.

I know that Mom can tell I'm lying, but she lets me go anyways. As she's turning away, Rochelle runs up to me. "Isabel, everybody's worried! You can't keep this up forever."

"I know, I know." I take a deep breath. "You have to help me tell them, though."

She agrees, and we walk outside again. Everybody looks at us expectantly. "Isabel has something she'd like to tell you," she announces. To me, she whispers, "You can do this."

I prepare myself to run back inside after I say the words. I take a deep breath, and let it out. "I'm…kinda…sorta…pregnant." And with that, I run inside to my room. Once there, I flop down on my bed, and feel the tears start flowing. I hear someone come in the room and sit up, trying to stem the flow of tears, with no luck.

Speaking of luck, it happens to be Arkarian who walks in. He sits down beside me without saying anything, and before I know what's happening, I'm sobbing in his arms.

"How…" he whispers softly, "How far along are you?"

I gaze into his violet eyes and see nothing but warmth and love. "Two months," I say breathlessly.

He takes in a short breath. I guess he wasn't expecting that. "So there's only seven left to go."

I nod. "You…you're not mad?"

He looks at me with a confused expression on his face. "Mad? Why should I be? Nervous, yes, but not mad. I'm also a little confused as to why you didn't tell me when you first found out."

I laugh a little. "I guess I was scared."

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure we'll make great parents."

"That's exactly what Rochelle said when she found out yesterday." I hug him. "I love you, Arkarian."

"And I you," he replies. "So…are you able to tell if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

I put a hand carefully on my stomach and grin. "I love my sixth sense sometimes."

"What's the verdict?"

"…Her name will be Ophelia."

He lays backwards on my bed and I do the same. "Ophelia…it has a sort of ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does." I roll onto my side to face Arkarian. "You know, we still have to discuss wedding plans."

He laughs and rolls over to face me. "How about two weeks from now?"

"Two weeks? Are you sure that's enough time?"

He thinks about it for a moment before saying, "I have a feeling we'll manage. After all, we'll have 8 other people helping us."

I laugh, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Thanks for being so understanding," I say softly.

He kisses me, then says, "Come on. Let's go back to your party now."

All in all, not too bad a birthday.

**End…for now…**

**Well? What did you think? I know, there was a lot of drama, but that's my specialty. I promise you that the next one will be better…especially the end…of course, I still hate one of the parts…Any way, it'll be called The Deception, and as soon as I post the first chapter, I'll put an author's note after this to tell you all. Thanks for reviewing! I love you all!**


	13. Word Jumble!

**Okay, the first chapter of The Deception is up! Readers, enjoy! And now to fill this page somewhat…**

**Skdjfalsekjgvldsflg'aksfjlasdjfasldkjflkasjdlgkonaskjdfpassedf;kasjg'alsdjg;lasdjgofkonlvajdflksemnlfkjsadlfjseljfsodfkjsdlfkjslslk;djfokjlvmelkjokefjsllkejkljfoskdljfoelllkdjfkoskoowkldfjkwouldjflkjdfkbobwuljfkdonbokukltklsjdlkfjskdufowlelfsduflsefjldsuflejlfjsdfa.**

**See how many words/names you can find, and review when you think you've found them all! And make sure you tell me what words you found, so I can see if you're telling the truth. Have fun! **


End file.
